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By MICHAEL CASEY

BOSTON — William Strickland, a longtime civil rights activist and supporter of the Black Power movement who worked with Malcolm X and other prominent leaders in the 1960s, has died. He was 87.Strickland, whose death April 10 was confirmed by a...

SOUTH HADLEY— Amid the cheerful greenery popping out everywhere like peepers, a red and black plaid mackinaw will pull you in every time. Inside the coat and under a pulled-down brim smiles Kim Harwood, hard at work with both shovel and spade at the...

By JAMES PENTLAND

A one-term Holyoke city councilor who appears to have decamped to fight with Russian forces in the Ukraine war to avoid having to register here as a sex offender has, unsurprisingly, become the focus of national and international media coverage.Wilmer...

By EMILY THURLOW

A woman dressed in pajamas walks into a Cottage Street bar and challenges a random stranger to an arm-wrestling match.The circumstances sound like the set-up of a joke. It’s not.The woman is Rose Lynch of Easthampton, and over the next few weeks...

By SCOTT MERZBACH

AMHERST — A video uploaded to YouTube, promoting financial investments through an artificial intelligence program that would help generate significant returns on cryptocurrency, featured the company’s CEO speaking on screen.Yet it turns out that the...

By DOMENIC POLI

GREENFIELD — Authorities are working to identify human remains found this week on Rawson Island by children enrolled in an environmental philosophy program based in Westhampton.Laurie Loisel, spokesperson with the Northwestern district attorney’s...

By STEVE PFARRER

AMHERST — Adding to its collection of work documenting social change, the University of Massachusetts Amherst has acquired the papers of social activist and writer Al Weinrub, co-founder of the anti-imperialist organization Science for the People...

By JAMES PENTLAND

PLAINFIELD — A dispute between town officials and two residents over alleged health, building and wetlands violations at their property has devolved into a legal stand-off, with the residents flouting a court order to permit inspections.Town officials...

By JAMES PENTLAND

SOUTH HADLEY — Marina owner Luke Brunelle died unexpectedly Thursday evening, the family reported in a statement.Brunelle, 61, was widely respected and admired for his dedication to providing exceptional service and fostering a welcoming environment...

By EMILY THURLOW

Whether he’s sporting villainous Maleficent-style horns, channeling his inner witch dressed as Winifred Sanderson, twirling in a red-and-black polka-dot a-line dress or lounging around in a raglan T-shirt, Aaron Johnson is still, “just Aaron.”Though...

By Mercy Lingle

EASTHAMPTON — Looking out over the scenic Mt. Tom range in Easthampton stands Stu, a 12-foot-tall plastic skeleton. Though it is not Halloween, Stu stands proud in a rainbow tutu, waving a Pride flag for all passersby to see. “Sometimes people stop in...

By EMILY THURLOW

AMHERST — Seven years ago, middle school students helped usher in change to make Amherst the first community in the state to formally ditch Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day.This year, a group of Fort River Elementary School...

By STEVE PFARRER

When it comes to transgender rights, the headlines across many parts of the country have become increasingly ugly in the last several months.At least 15 states, all controlled by Republicans, have banned or restricted gender-affirming medical care for...

By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA

Long before the rise of internet dating, lonely souls turned to the classified ads to find love.The song “Want Ads” soared to the top of the Billboard charts in 1971. This catchy tune by a girl group called the Honey Cone tells the story of a young...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — When children first start attending school, surveys across the country show that students are highly engaged. Those numbers drop off by the time students reach middle school and dip even lower in high school, according to state...

By RUSSELL POWELL

Wild-looking creatures roam Eric Weiss’ unassuming South Hadley home. But there is no reason for the neighbors to be alarmed. The creatures are puppets made by Weiss, owner of Homeslice Puppetry, a portal to a wide world of puppets, from workshops to...

By MADDIE FABIAN

NORTHAMPTON — In a perfect world, Dr. Ira Helfand would not earn recognition for his tireless advocacy for the elimination of nuclear weapons because they’d already be eliminated.But until the day comes, the Northampton resident activist continues to...

By COLIN A. YOUNG

BOSTON — The population of Massachusetts shrunk by nearly 8,000 people between July 2021 and July 2022, a drop of about 0.1 percent, but the newest estimate released in fresh data from the U.S. Census Bureau puts the state’s population ahead of its...

By EMILY THURLOW

EASTHAMPTON — As a restaurant owner, Konstantine Sierros says he’s often contacted for contributions to community organizations.So he wasn’t surprised when 17-year-old Diya Bhatia, a member of Easthampton High School’s We The People team, reached out...

By MELISSA KAREN SANCES

Before Tom Pedulla found the Eightfold Path, he had to admit that he was lost.It took the better part of a lifetime, because he didn’t look lost at all. As the eldest of four children born to Italian-American parents, he was expected to succeed, and...